JPEG2000 just isn't that great, and DCT-based compression is very hard to beat. DCT with varying block sizes gets most of the efficiency of wavelets with fewer

JPEG2000 just isn't that great, and DCT-based compression is very hard to beat. DCT with varying block sizes gets most of the efficiency of wavelets with fewer complications. A poorly encoded block only makes a limited area of the image look bad. In wavelets errors in lower frequencies have ripple (wink) effects. It's mathematically easier to reason about DCT, so encoders can be really good. DCT can easily create noise and sharp edges (even if they're fake, they still can create realistic texture), but any sort of noise and sharpness is expensive with wavelets. In practice it turned out it's easier to do DCT and then blur unwanted edges than to express edges to wavelets.